hi ho the derry-o, a beanin' we will go...

Like Alice of Alice in Wonderland, I seem to have lost some of my 'muchness'!!! I am having a difficult time coming up with 'new stuff' to post. Lately, it's been all about birding and health issues and the sultry weather around here. And I KNOW you're all bored to smithereens with that. I think perhaps, at least for this month, the drought has been broken. We have had some good downpours and street flooding lately. The yard has been saturated in the recent weeks to where we have had small ponds here and there. I'm not complaining. Tropical Storm, Ingrid, off the eastern coast of Old Mexico is supposedly going to be hurricane force by this weekend; which will perhaps give us MORE rain. Bring it on! Maybe, just maybe we'll have some water in the dried up tidal basins once again.

Taking a short drive to the islands the other day, we decided to go beaning. For the past three years or more, the drift seeds [even sea shells] have been very scarce on the beaches. We walked a few miles round trip and found very little that I could use to make some of nature's jewelry... [ link: a necklace I made from sea beans and glass]. The Sea Heart Bean [shaped like a heart] is what I really tend to search for, but they've been very elusive for a long time. I did find one that is reportedly 'coveted' by seed collectors; and that is the "Sea Purse" [or saddle bag] bean. Supposedly, again stated on web sites, this is an Asian seed....staying afloat across the oceans for up to four years!!! I personally think that perhaps the origins of the sea purse seed could be Asian....but I don't agree that the ones that end up in the Gulf of Mexico actually came from Asia!! Now here's my theory -- the sea purse floats along the ocean's current to land in Old Mexico, taking root there. And then, when the seed pods burst --in Mexico they then drift up to the coast of Texas. Just my thought. None-the-less I was pleased as punch to actually find one. The photo I share is the "Sea Purse" in my fingers. The ones laying down are a small collection from the day...the sea heart bean being a couple of them. By the way, the sea purse is very similar to the 'hamburger bean'...but more variegated and much larger!!


Oh, and y'all have heard of cicadas, right? When I was a kid, living in Nebraska along the river [oh we had a home, not just nomads and homeless...lol], in the long hot summer days the cicadas were so noisy sometimes it was deafening. I grew up hating them 'cause nearly 'round the clock they gave off that ear piercing mating song high up in the trees along the bank of the rivers. And up until we moved to Texas I had never ever seen one up close and personal. This past week, when I was out walking, one of those boogers flew right up into my face and glanced off my cheek to land on a branch. Luckily, I had my camera and zoomed in on it. I still don't like hearing them. Legend has it that when they start their noisy ritual there will be rain coming soon. I would much rather hear the raindrops falling from the sky!!